Taming Horses: photographs of America

"Neither the desert nor gambling are open arenas; their spaces are finite and concentric, increasing in intensity toward the interior, toward a central point, be it the spirit of gambling or the heart of the desert – a privileged, immemorial space, where things lose their shadow… "

Jean Baudrillard, America; Desert Forever, 1986

Taming Horses is the outcome of a road trip from Los Angeles to Austin and back; a journey of insight, excess and simulation. At first glance the Meteor Crater at Winslow seems like a mural, but it is actually a hole in the wall that lays out a view of the surrounding desert. In 1982 the same "view" was photographed by Richard Misrach when it was a mere tourist car park. Misrachs's image is a classic study of the interplay of nature and culture. My photograph of the same location has the inclusion of tourists interacting with the spatial illusion: some admiring the empty space and some photographing each other in front of it. Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the United States and its exuberance far exceeds its expectations. Where the suburbs meet the desert, if you are lucky enough to get a glimpse into one of the closed communities, the only difference between the white houses and their double garages is the placement and size of the American flag. Taming horses examines the modes in which modern society mediates and instructs our fears, desires and expectations of nature and the ways in which we then collectively and individually project them back upon the landscape. For my imagery to progress I feel this project had to eventually happen…